Handguns are commonly displayed and stored laying flat on their sides on horizontal shelves in retail stores and in gun safes. For a given area of shelf space, more handguns can be stored in an upright position than in a flat position. However, handguns are not stable in an upright position and can easily tip over.
A variety of racks have been used to display and store handguns in an upright position on shelves. The racks are designed to hold a number of handguns. As a result, the racks are often partially empty. For example, if a rack is designed to hold six handguns and a retailer wants to display seven handguns, he has no choice but to use two racks, one or both of which will have empty spaces. Another disadvantage of racks is that they place the handgun in one fixed position, typically upright. A retailer may want to display a handgun in a leaning position, midway between upright and flat.
Handgun display stands for a single handgun have also been disclosed. Taylor, U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,027, Oct. 3, 1967, discloses a handgun display stand having a base and a jaw that grips the trigger guard of a handgun. The jaw is tightened and loosened by turning a threaded bolt. The Taylor display stand is bulky, contains many parts, and a time consuming process with a screwdriver is required to place the handgun on the stand and to remove it from the stand.
Handgun holders consisting of a single piece of wire bent into various shapes have also been disclosed. Greenwood, U.S. Pat. No. 945,520, Jan. 4, 2010, discloses a handgun display stand consisting of a single piece of wire bent into a base, a vertical member, and an angled sleeve. The angled sleeve accommodates a handgun barrel or cylinder (if the handgun is a revolver). The handgun is completely elevated off the surface on which the stand rests. As a result, the angle at which the handgun leans is not adjustable and the handgun is relatively unstable. The handgun plus the stand take up substantial vertical space so the stand is not suitable for shelves having limited heights. Vande Noord, U.S. Pat. No. D633,978, Mar. 8, 2011, discloses a handgun display stand consisting of a single piece of wire. A hook portion attaches to the edge of a shelf and two prongs accommodate the barrels of handguns. The handguns hang suspended from under the shelf. Freed, U.S. Pat. No. 3,353,728, Nov. 21, 1967, discloses a handgun holster consisting of a single piece of wire.
Accordingly, there is a demand for an improved stand for displaying and storing handguns on horizontal shelves. More particularly, there is a demand for such a stand that holds a single handgun, is stable, is easily customized to hold the handgun at the desired leaning angle, is easy and inexpensive to manufacture, is light in weight, and onto which a handgun can be easily and quickly placed and removed.